(1) Field of the Invention
The invention relates to investment casting. More particularly, the invention relates to investment casting using molds having oxidizable cores.
(2) Description of the Related Art
Investment casting is a commonly used technique for forming metallic components having complex geometries, especially hollow components, and is used in the fabrication of superalloy gas turbine engine components.
Gas turbine engines are widely used in applications including aircraft propulsion, electric power generation, ship propulsion, and pumps. In gas turbine engine applications, efficiency is a prime objective.
Improved gas turbine engine efficiency can be obtained by operating at higher temperatures, however current operating temperatures in the turbine section exceed the melting points of the superalloy materials used in turbine components. Consequently, it is a general practice to provide air cooling. Cooling is typically provided by flowing relatively cool air from the compressor section of the engine through passages in the turbine components to be cooled. Such cooling comes with an associated cost in engine efficiency. Consequently, there is a strong desire to provide enhanced specific cooling, maximizing the amount of cooling benefit obtained from a given amount of cooling air. This may be obtained by the use of fine, precisely located, cooling passageway sections.
A well developed field exists regarding the investment casting of internally-cooled turbine engine parts such as blades and vanes. In an exemplary process, a mold is prepared having one or more mold cavities, each having a shape generally corresponding to the part to be cast. An exemplary process for preparing the mold involves the use of one or more wax patterns of the part. The patterns are formed by molding wax over ceramic cores generally corresponding to positives of the cooling passages within the parts. In a shelling process, a ceramic shell is formed around one or more such patterns in well known fashion. The wax may be removed such as by melting in an autoclave. The shell may be fired to strengthen the shell. This leaves a mold comprising the shell having one or more part-defining compartments which, in turn, contain the ceramic core(s) defining the cooling passages. Molten alloy may then be introduced to the mold to cast the part(s). Upon cooling and solidifying of the alloy, the shell and core may be mechanically and/or chemically removed from the molded part(s). The part(s) can then be machined and/or treated in one or more stages.
The ceramic cores themselves may be formed by molding a mixture of ceramic powder and binder material by injecting the mixture into hardened metal dies. After removal from the dies, the green cores are thermally post-processed to remove the binder and fired to sinter the ceramic powder together. The trend toward finer cooling features has taxed core manufacturing techniques. The fine features may be difficult to manufacture and/or, once manufactured, may prove fragile. Commonly-assigned co-pending U.S. Pat. No. 6,637,500 of Shah et al. discloses various examples of a ceramic and refractory metal core combination. Various refractory metals, however, tend to oxidize at high temperatures in the vicinity of the temperatures used to fire the shell. Thus, the shell firing may degrade the refractory metal cores and, thereby produce potentially unsatisfactory part internal features. Accordingly, there remains room for further improvement in such cores and their manufacturing techniques.